AOPA Offers Audio File Of ADIZ Flight
The second set of ADIZ public meetings are expected to start
Wednesday afternoon from 1 to 4 pm in the Airport Marriott Hotel in
Dulles, VA. AOPA President Phil Boyer will be first to speak at
this meeting. The meeting will resume at 6:30 pm, and run to 9
pm.
Highlights From First Meeting
The first such public meeting -- which was announced at last year's AOPA
Expo by DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, and was attended
by over 300 local pilots -- was held last week... and AOPA
representatives tell Aero-News that federal security officials got
an earful from everyone involved in the ADIZ fight.
Over the course of six hours, more than 30 speakers at the first
meeting provided the government with a clear message about the
ADIZ's inadequacies -- through personal accounts of operational
nightmares, safety hazards, and negative economic impacts. Those
problems would only continue and fester should the ADIZ become
permanent.
"...These public meetings allow the government to hear that --
loud and clear -- directly from the members, the pilots and
aircraft owners who have to struggle with these unworkable
regulations every day," said AOPA president Phil Boyer.
One pilot -- Eric Flamino, the AOPA Airport Support Network
volunteer at Tipton Airport in the heart of the ADIZ -- told the
panel how the restrictive airspace is hurting pilot safety, because
they aren't flying enough to keep their skills sharp -- for
example, few regularly practice pattern work at Tipton now,
due to the hassles involved.
Another pilot, a Naval academy instructor, recounted his
two-year ordeal with the FAA as a result of a 1.5-mile incursion
into the ADIZ that ultimately resulted in a 15-day suspension of
his pilot certificate.
AOPA stated during the first meeting the 11-member panel
composed of representatives from the FAA, Transportation Security
Administration, Homeland Security, Defense Department, Customs and
Border Protection, and the Secret Service seemed unresponsive --
but the FAA assured AOPA that the agency is listening.
"We appreciate all the thought that people have put into their
comments -- the almost 20,000 submissions to the docket and live
testimony yesterday," said an FAA spokeswoman. "We appreciate the
time they took to come to the public meetings to offer their
recommendations, alternate ideas, and suggestions of how to protect
the airspace around the Capital Region but still allow the aviation
community to thrive. We will look at all the comments and consider
the many creative recommendations we have."
One must wonder what some of those "creative recommendations"
suggested by pilots were...
Listen To An ADIZ Flight
While the battle over a permanent ADIZ in Washington, DC touches
everyone in the pilot community -- as it could be a sign of things
to come throughout the country -- those of us far removed from the
east coast (or who don't fly anywhere near the Capitol) may not
completely understand all of the hoops pilots who traverse the ADIZ
need to fly through -- especially when those hoops are not held
steady.
During the first public meeting, panel members -- some of whom
are pilots, and all of whose work is deeply involved in aviation --
heard how the hasty requirements that were established during one
weekend in 2003 are virtually impossible to follow flawlessly -- by
pilots and controllers alike.
AOPA is offering an audio file of such a flight, described by
the organization as a "not-so-simple", and completely legal, flight
through the DC ADIZ. The nine-minute file brings to light some of
the challenges faced by pilots and controllers alike -- and how
often, neither group completely understands the bigger picture
involved. You may download the audio file here.
After the first meeting, AOPA Executive VP of Government Affairs
Andy Cebula commented on the strength of members' arguments against
the ADIZ -- more of which will be heard in Wednesday's meeting.
"Our members gave articulate, well-reasoned arguments against
the ADIZ that established credibility and set the bar for these
meetings," said Cebula last week. "They all questioned the logic of
imposing the harshest penalties on the ones who pose the least
amount of threat."